Violent thug fronts court over hammer blow attack

A violent thug showed no mercy when he kept a Richmond woman who gave her shelter captive for nearly five hours and repeatedly struck her with a hammer.

A Ringwood woman feared for her life after a man she allowed to stay in her house repeatedly struck her with a hammer.

A thug has been jailed for repeatedly striking a woman with a hammer after she asked him to leave her home having given him a place to stay.

Zarif Asgar was sentenced to five years’ jail for the violent attack during where he also threatened to kill the victim, and then himself.

The 37-year-old fessed up to charges of intentionally causing injury, false imprisonment, threatening to kill, theft of keys and phone and possession of a drug of dependence.

He appeared for sentence in the County Court on Friday after spending nearly two years in custody.

Judge Geoff Chettle said the victim allowed Asgar, who suffered from mental health and drug abuse issues, to stay in her home in Ringwood.

When she asked him to leave in February 2022, Asgar struck her several times to the face and head with a hammer before dragging her into the bedroom and telling her that he was going to kill her, and then kill himself.

Drug addict Zarif Asgar has been sentenced to five years imprisonment for attacking and injuring a woman with a hammer.

She managed to run out through the back door but before she could get the gate opened, he grabbed and threw her to the ground and hit her to the back of the head with the hammer again.

Asgar then forced her back inside the house where he allowed her to have a shower to try and stop the bleeding.

The ordeal lasted nearly five hours.

“She was bleeding and afraid. She wanted to go to the hospital and told you that she would claim to have been in a car accident,” Judge Chettle said.

Finally, Asgar allowed her to leave but demanded she hand over her house keys and mobile phone.

She walked to the nearby shops where an off duty officer called 000.

The victim suffered two deep scalp lacerations which went down to the bone and bruises and lacerations on her upper body.

Police recovered a small quantity of methylamphetamine, an ice pipe and the victim’s house keys and mobile phone from Asgar.

Career criminal Zarif Asgar is a regular user of methamphetamine and other drugs.

Judge Chettle said luckily the injuries she suffered were not serious during the attack which happened when Asgar was undergoing a community corrections order.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said she didn’t trust people, wouldn’t let them stay with her anymore, she has become hypervigilant and was scared that Asgar would find her.

“She was clearly terrified and thought she would die. She was lucky not to be more severely injured in a more permanent way,” Judge Chettle said.

“The nature of your offending and the repeated violent assaults on your victim cannot be condoned in any way. You kept her prisoner in her own home for five hours, you threatened to kill her and grossly assaulted her with a hammer.”

Asgar has an extensive relevant prior criminal history and that of psychiatric admissions that dates back to 2010. He’s been diagnosed with schizophrenic and polysubstance abuse disorders and is being treated with anti-psychotic medication.

He will serve a minimum of three years in jail.